During one of my recent teaching sessions, I was describing to a student how consciousness moves, unfolds, or evolves in the pursuit of Self-realization. During my description, I felt an intuitive urge to draw a diagram for assistance, and after the session, I decided to create a virtual representation on my computer. This rudimentary animation video is what emerged. It’s not the greatest visual depiction of the evolution of consciousness, but hopefully it conveys from a bird’s-eye view in a simple manner the progression of awareness that we all inevitably experience. Keep in mind that the animation follows a general trend of how consciousness unfolds, but it doesn’t account for individual differences, so use it as a reference while holding to it loosely. Below the video is an explanation with screenshots.
When our journey begins, we start out not knowing our true nature. Our consciousness, which is what we are, is darkened by the veil of illusion. We identify with ego – the mental construct rooted in fear that is composed of thoughts, feelings, sensations, and perceptions – causing us to believe “I Am Something,” whether that “something” is the body, the mind, the heart, our name, our roles, our family, our possessions, and/or any other object(s) of consciousness. Under this veil of darkness, we are mostly unconscious, operating on autopilot from our egoic conditioning and programming, which offers little autonomy and free will. We see life through the perspective of ego-mind, which comprehends reality in dualistic terms, or pairs of opposites. Through this lens, life appears divided – black vs. white, light vs. dark, good vs. bad, right vs. wrong, yin vs. yang, and never the twain shall meet. This duality, or division, is the root cause of suffering because it splits the universe in two – me vs. not me – leading to the fear-based illusion of lack, separateness, and ignorance.
At the very center of our being, however, is a spark of consciousness that is completely untouched by the egoic veil – the light of awareness that is eternally present no matter how dense or dark the illusion. This is why Self-realization is not only possible for all people, but inevitable. The goal then is to access, connect with, and utilize our conscious awareness because when we do so, it grows. Like a muscle, the more conscious we are, the stronger our consciousness gets. As the light grows, it directly dispels the darkness of duality and suffering, and in its place come increasing levels of unity and peace. In this way, our evolution is measured by our awareness.
Once our consciousness increases and expands to a certain degree, and the egoic veil has been dissolved sufficiently, awakening to our true nature occurs, and we realize “I Am Nothing.” Whereas before we thought we were some bundle of identities, now we see that we are no thing in particular. Rather, we are Spirit or Being, which is pure subjective awareness that cannot adequately be pointed to with words. Awakening essentially means becoming increasingly more aware until we realize that we are awareness. Now we know our true nature as That divine presence which transcends and exists beyond any form. This is wisdom.
Awakening doesn’t automatically dissolve all the darkness of illusion, but it does ensure that the consciousness is never veiled again. Even though there remain faint traces of ego on the edges of our field of consciousness, at this level, we no longer get caught in them, for we have enough awareness to know they are illusory. Once awakening occurs, the next step – in addition to letting the faint traces of ego dissolve on their own – is the embodiment of our true nature, which commences immediately and never ends. This means taking our newfound wisdom into the world to experience, express, and become it. We engage with the same objects of consciousness that we de-identified with previously, only this time we discover that they are made of the same substance as we are, and therefore not separate at all. In other words, we see that our true nature as divine presence not only exists transcendently beyond every form, but also immanently within and as every form, leading to the realization “I Am Everything.” There is a complete unity of life, which naturally lends itself to an appreciation of all things; we see the inherent value of every form in existence because it is our own Self. Through the physical senses, life still unfolds as it always did, but now we understand it in a new way. We realize that everything is merely an appearance in and as the boundless field of awareness. Life still appears to be differentiated into distinct and varied forms, but it is intuitively experienced as one formless Being. We come to fully accept our humanity, engage deeply with nature, and selflessly act with presence and compassion for the betterment of all. This is love.
Ultimately, there are three basic steps to Self-realization: removing the veil of illusion (ego-dissolution), realizing our true nature (awakening), and embodying our true nature (enlightenment). This final step is an endless process of refinement and alignment. Enlightenment is not a static state or endpoint. It’s a single dynamic flow of awareness-experience – between being and doing, spirit and nature, transcendence and immanence, emptiness and fullness. It’s the merging of “I Am Nothing” with “I Am Everything” into simply “I Am.” It is the harmonizing of our divinity with our humanity, the interplay of wisdom and love.
When all is said and done, we discover that there’s no real unfolding of consciousness after all. Instead, we remember ourselves as the infinite and eternal, whole and complete, undisturbed and motionless Source of Life that is birthing and breathing itself into manifested existence in every moment.